J.B. Patnaik missing from Congress’s first Orissa list

Bhubaneswar, March 28 (IANS) The name of former orissa chief minister Janaki Ballav Patnaik is missing from the Congress’s first list of candidates announced Saturday for next month’s Lok Sabha and assembly elections, party sources said. The Congress has announced candidates for 16 of the state’s 21 Lok Sabha seats and 142 out of 147 assembly seats, they said.

The prominent among the Lok Sabha candidates are two sitting MPs Chandra Sekhar Sahu and Giridhar Gomang, who will contest from their traditional seats of Berhampur and Koraput respectively.

The party has denied tickets to some of its senior leaders and former state ministers.

The list of the assembly candidates includes several sitting members and some new faces, the party sources said.

The party has named Pradeep Sahu, a new face, to contest from Begunia - considered to be Patnaik’s traditional assembly constituency.

While Patnaik, who was chief minister for 14 years, does not figure in the list, some of his relatives and loyalists have been given the ticket.

His son-in-law Soumya Ranjan Patnaik will contest from the Khandapada assembly constituency.

The Lok Sabha and assembly polls will be held in Orissa in two phases - April 16 and April 23.